Free Republic

Hillary Clinton is running for President. Oh, sure, she hasnÂ’t announced it yet. But all the signs are there: speeches to certain groups, third-party money-raising apparatus, little hints dropped by Bill Clinton on Twitter. Hillary can play coy, but no one in the Democrat Party believes for a second that she did not walk out of the offices of Secretary of State and right into a campaign meeting. But what about the other big female name in American politics? No, not Elizabeth Warren. She is going to run with Hillary for the VP job. WeÂ’re talking about Sarah Palin. Ever...

Agency officials coached tribes on how to oppose Alaska’s Pebble Mine. Obama has repeatedly urged that science guide environmental decisions, regulators inside the Environmental Protection Agency secretly worked with tribal and environmental activists to preempt a full review of an Alaskan mine and veto the project before the owners’ permits could be considered, internal memos show. Charged with being neutral arbiters, EPA officials instead began advocating for a preemptive veto of the Pebble Mine project in western Alaska as early as 2008, long before any scientific studies were conducted or the permit applications for the project were even filed, ......

<p>WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency came under fire Thursday after new emails surfaced that allegedly show government officials worked in secret with tribal leaders and other environmental groups to preemptively oppose the controversial Pebble Mine project in Alaska before a review was even conducted.</p>

Watching the celebration at the NRA convention over the defeat of background checks was the most nauseating experience of the day. I am not a New York gun control liberal, either. I support a shotgun for home defense, a handgun for limited conceal/carry, and an assortment of hunting rifles to balance West Virginia's exploding deer population (as evidenced by hourly collisions with cars). So, I am hardly out of the mainstream. But, the gun safety debate is B.S. This foaming at the mouth, Obamar is coming for the guns, Nanny Bloomberg is a bad billionaire, and most despicable of all,...

In a bizarre op-ed in The Charleston Gazette last week, journalism professor Christopher Swindell argued that the National Rifle Association “advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America.” Stirring words, to be sure, but Swindell was hardly done — not even close. He also said that the NRA is guilty of “treason” “worthy of the firing squad.” “To support the new NRA president’s agenda of arming the populace for confrontation with the government is bloody treason,” Swindell charged in his wacky essay. After briefly playing the race card and alluding to the Civil War,...

On the same week that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin doubled down on waterboarding remarks she made, the campaign of CD3 GOP Primary candidate Steve Lonegan said it would welcome Palin in to campaign with the movement conservative candidate. “Darn right I’d do whatever it takes to foil [terrorists’] murderous jihadist plots – including waterboarding,” Palin, a Republican, wrote in a Facebook post Monday night, following up on controversial comments made last weekend at the annual National Rifle Association meeting in Indianapolis. “Well, if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we’d baptize terrorists,” Palin told...

Explanation: Sometimes it is hard to believe what you see in the sky. While leading his annual aurora tour last month near Fairbanks in central Alaska, astrophotographer John Chumack and his company saw a most unusual aurora. This bright aurora appeared to change into the shape of a jumping dog, complete with a curly tail. He was able to capture the fleeting natural apparition in the above image with a 15-second exposure through a wide-angle lens. By coincidence, he also captured a background sky filled with familiar highlights. Planets visible include bright Jupiter through the dog's front legs and reddish...

Five meters of ice– about 16 feet thick - is threatening the survival of polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea region along Alaska’s Arctic coast, according to Dr. Susan J. Crockford, an evolutionary biologist in British Columbia who has studied polar bears for most of her 35-year career. That’s because the thick ice ridges could prevent ringed seals, the bears’ major prey, from creating breathing holes they need to survive in the frigid waters, Crockford told CNSNews.com. “Prompted by reports of the heaviest sea ice conditions on the East Coast ‘in decades’ and news that ice on the Great...

To many Democrats, ObamaCare is a four-letter word. Most Democrats in competitive elections are seeking to avoid the topic, opting not to tout the controversial law on their campaign websites. In a review of battleground races, The Hill found that out of 50 Democratic candidates with active campaign websites, only 11 mention the healthcare law by name, either as "ObamaCare," "Affordable Care Act," or "ACA." Fourteen more mention the law, but not its name, and half the candidates omit it entirely from their websites. President Obama has trumpeted that more than 8 million people have enrolled in ACA-related plans. Meanwhile,...

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says U.S. Senate hopeful Joni Ernst would bring Iowa's values to Washington, D.C., and is unlike any lawmaker the city has seen. Palin was one of many women in politics to attend the "Heels On, Gloves Off!" rally Sunday to support Ernst, a Republican state senator. Others who attended the rally included Nebraska U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, former Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr and Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. The event was put on by ShePAC...

A new report analyzing the financial ramifications of a takeover of some of Nevada’s millions of acres of federal lands suggests the state would benefit from such a transfer. A transfer of 4 million acres of U.S. Bureau Land Management land could bring in anywhere from $31 million to $114 million a year, based on a review of four Western states that have significant amounts of trust lands under their control, the report says.

Ill., R.I. residents most likely to say states are among worst places to liveWASHINGTON, D.C.-When asked to rate their state as a place to live, three in four Montanans (77%) and Alaskans (77%) say their state is the best or one of the best places to live. Residents of Rhode Island (18%) and Illinois (19%) are the least likely to praise their states.Residents of Western and Midwestern states are generally more positive about their states as places to live. With the exception of the New England states of New Hampshire and Vermont, all of the top 10 rated states are...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When asked to rate their state as a place to live, three in four Montanans (77%) and Alaskans (77%) say their state is the best or one of the best places to live. Residents of Rhode Island (18%) and Illinois (19%) are the least likely to praise their states.

<p>In 1867, Russia sold the territory of Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million. A mere 50 years later, the Americans had earned that amount back 100 times over. How could the imperial officials have given up such a choice parcel? RBTH sorts out the muddled story of the sale of Alaska.</p>

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday jokingly implied that Alaska wasn't worth reunifying with Russia because it was too cold. At a nearly four-hour, question-and-answer event, one submitted question for Putin asked if, following the annexation of Crimea, he had designs for the largest of the United States. “Are there any plans to annex Alaska to Russia? We would be very happy [about that],” said Faina Ivanovna, drawing laughter from the crowd. “What would you need Alaska for?” Putin said with a smile. “We are a northern country … 70 percent of our territory is in the north and far...

Tell us how you really feel, Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader, who recently annexed Crimea from Ukraine, dissed Alaska today in his annual marathon question-and-answer session. Asked by a Russian woman if the U.S. state could be his next conquest, Putin seemed disinterested in adding it to his growing empire. "What would you need Alaska for?" he asked, adding that Russia already has enough cold territory. Russia sold Alaska to the United States in the 19th century for $7.2 million in gold.

Sarah Palin already announced her support for US Senate candidate Joni Ernst. Now Palin is joining her on the campaign trail. The former vice presidential candidate will stump for Ernst at a rally in West Des Moines as part of a ShePAC event that aims to support, honor and elect conservative women. The “Heels On, Gloves Off” event is set for April 27th. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska and former Nebraska Governor Kay Orr will also attend the event.

The earthquake struck at 5:36 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on Good Friday. When the first shaking hit, many parents were in the kitchen, fixing dinner. For more than 4 minutes, the earth buckled and lurched all across southern Alaska. Few people returned home to their meals that night. In Anchorage, the ground cracked open and giant fissures swallowed children whole, killing them in front of their siblings. Landslides launched tsunamis that swept away coastal villages before the shaking even ended. In Seward, spilled oil slicked the water and caught fire. When the earthquake-triggered tsunami hit minutes later, the wave was...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin fired back against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday calling him a "silly little man" after he said that he was not interested in invading Alaska. Putin downplayed the value of Alaska during a question-and-answer session in Moscow today, pointing out that it was a cold northern territory. “What would you need Alaska for?” he said, advising Russians "not be overenthusiastic” about the state. “Mr. Putin, such a silly little man on this matter of invading Alaska,” Palin said in a written statement to Breitbart News, pointing out that it was obvious that Russia got...

As Sen. Mark Begich (D., Alaska) seeks to shore up his energy policy credentials, a now-bankrupt green energy company to which he steered federal subsidies could cloud his message. Begich received campaign contributions from a lobbyist for an Alaska geothermal plant after helping the company obtain federal financing. The company is now bankrupt, but Begich continues touting his support for alternative energy. The senator, who is facing reelection in November, will address the Alaska Wood Energy Conference on Wednesday. The conference brings together leaders in the state’s biomass industry. He has also promoted fossil fuel development, including effort to open areas of...